South Pole Christmas 3 Summer Camp by Ella Derbyshire

Nikon D80's

Here is the "summer camp" where support people live and work during the long day of the South Pole summer.

Usually this is a very busy scene. Construction crews are still working on the exterior of the station, hence you see finished siding on the right side of the image and you see bare particle board and scaffold on the left. We have until mid-February to complete such tasks. We working in bitter cold, often in impressive winds as well. Many of the vehicles we drive and tools that we use are designed to work in extreme environments. On Christmas Day, all of equipment is silent.

Summer camp houses construction crews and extra science support people during the summer only. Most of our 250 or so people are only here for 4 months of the summer season. Some of us will stay at the Pole through the winter. From mid-February to mid-October, we will all live in the elevated station that you see at the right and left edges of the panorama.

Christmas provides a rare, most welcome day off from work for almost everybody at the South Pole. The galley crew is probably at their busiest, preparing a special Christmas dinner for 250 people. James Brown, who is the South Pole's executive chef, and his staff did a magnificent job.

Tomorrow the people will all be back at work. So today, enjoy with me the peaceful scene of summer camp at the South Pole on Christmas Day, 2008.

The 14 images of this panorama were photographed with a Nikon D-80 and stitched with Autopano Pro.